Mom's "Before" and "After" Photos Show That Loving Your Body Is About More Than How It Looks

This weekend, while I was lounging in bed on a rare Sunday morning when my children were actually letting me sleep in (I mean, minus the occasional toddler who insisted on wandering in), I took a good, hard look at the body I now have. And for one of the first times in my life since becoming a mother, I didn’t let myself berate the stretched-out skin I saw on my stomach or point out the "gross" stretch marks riddling my hips. For the first time, I looked at my body as a testament to the life it had borne, the journey it has been on and the physical marks of love that it will always have.

Becoming a mother transforms you in so many ways, both physical and emotional, and in a powerful side-by-side Instagram post, new mom and actress Lindsay Wolf captured the beautiful way that motherhood has transformed her, both in body and in mind.

Unlike so many "before" and "after" pictures on social media, which broadcast an unhappy person with a few extra pounds next to the new, improved version of him or herself — now with abs! — Wolf’s transformation was one that was just a little bit different — in a very refreshing way. Her picture showed an image of herself at 23, weighing less than she does, “scarily thin” with her ribcage sticking out. Although she's smiling in the photo, Wolf says that smile simply covered up the self-hatred she felt toward her body.

"On the left is a 23 year old woman who literally thought she was chubby in the picture shared," Wolf wrote. "She was self-conscious, critical of her physical shape, and always either on a diet or rebelling from one. She only saw flaws in the mirror. She acted happy, but there was definitely a restlessness, because she was worried about what would happen if she physically became anything other than what she was (which was not good enough for her anyway)."

The image of her 23-year-old self was contrasted with a more recent photo of Wolf weighing what she says is a good 50 pounds more, with a postpartum belly and most importantly, a truly happy smile on her face.

"On the right is a 33 year old woman who is learning to love her body without pressuring it to be anything other than what it is," the caption says. "She is trying out self-love & body positivity for a change. She is getting to the heart of why, at 23, she hated her body so much. And in the process, she is healing a lifelong struggle of never fully seeing herself for the extraordinary human being she is…"

Wolf's post has resonated with many women, racking up thousands of likes and shares, because it captures the truth about loving yourself. Being body positive is about recognizing that health is so much more than simply about how you look. Wolf's "transformation" is about changing how she sees herself, not just how the world sees her.

And for Wolf, motherhood has helped her to see herself in a whole new way. Instead of focusing on her weight and how she looks, she is focusing on loving the version of herself that is stronger, healthier and happier than ever before. That's a body positive message we can absolutely get behind.

Chaunie is a former labor and delivery nurse, a mom of four, and a blogger at Tiny Blue Lines. She thinks pregnancy is amazing, women are strong, and that moms have the best (and most exhausting) job in the world.